Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen

There are long breaks between violent scenes, but when the few of them hit, they're quite bloody. Two characters are beheaded (in one case it's a particularly sad death of someone close to Clariel; in the other, a frightening magical creature twists a head off a person's shoulders), characters are run through with talons and swords, there's another sad death by arrow, and there's a serious injury from an arrow and another from a dagger. There's talk of Belatiel's parents' deaths in the past, drowned when he was young, and talk of a bad guy killing day laborers for fun. A character is kidnapped and imprisoned. Talk of the Abhorsen's primary job, which is to walk into death and get rid of dangerous magical creatures.

Two mentions that Clariel "chose to lie with a man," as well as talk of her not being interested in men or women.

One "bitches."

Wine shows up on a couple of occasions, with Clariel, age 17, refusing once and accepting another time.

Parents need to know that Garth Nix's Clariel is a prequel to the popular Abhorsen trilogy about a magical world where people called Abhorsens fight evil "Free Magic" and wield bells that help them walk in death and return to the living. You can read Clariel before Sabriel, the first book in the trilogy, and not be too confused. Despite the macabre themes, violence consists of only a few rather bloody skirmishes -- some characters lose heads and get run through with swords and talons of some scary magical creatures. There are a few sad deaths. Other mature content consists of a glass of wine drunk by 17-year-old Clariel and a couple mentions that she "chose to lie with a man" with only that amount of detail. As in Nix's previous books, he presents a fantasy world that will challenge teen readers. Expect to learn some new vocabulary while rooting for the complex tragic character at the center of the story.